LifeStream seeks $ from county

Jay County Commissioners heard from LifeStream Services and Jay-Randolph Developmental Services about the work they’re able to do partly because of county funding.
Of the four counties — Blackford, Henry, Jay and Randolph — in which LifeStream provides transportation, Jay is the busiest, accounting for about 49 percent of trips in 2014, said Kevin Jeffers, transportation manager for LifeStream Services.
Jeffers said estimates for 2016 include at least 14,260 trips for employment purposes, 5,900 to schools, 1,150 for medical needs, 1,355 for shopping and more than 1,000 for miscellaneous purposes.  
“It’s a pretty utilized service here in Jay County,” commissioner Faron Parr said.
“It’s the place I’m most proud of,” because of how much the community uses LifeStream, Jeffers said.
LifeStream requested $50,000 from the county for 2016.
The Indiana Department of Transportation will provide $744,000 Jeffers said, with $364,751 estimated to be spent in Jay County.
The requested $50,000 would help cover a local match required by INDOT. LifeStream meets the match with rider fares and support from Jay-Randolph Developmental Services in addition to county funding.
JRDS is the biggest user of LifeStream, executive director Jim Sinclair told the commissioners.
Sinclair said JRDS received $27,500 in county funding last year, and hopes to get a similar amount this year. More than 100 JRDS clients are from Jay County, he said.
“If Jay-Randolph was not in existence, many of our clients would be home, they’d be isolated, they wouldn’t be able to socialize out in public, they wouldn’t be producing an income,” Sinclair said.
“Their quality of life would suffer, as would the quality of life in Jay County.”
Funding for LifeStream and JRDS will be part of the county’s budget discussion.
In other business, the commissioners:
•Heard that Jay County Community Corrections has $28,625 in insurance money to replace three vehicles totaled because of water damage from mid-July’s flooding. That, plus $21,000 already budgeted for replacing one vehicle, leaves Community Corrections about $8,000 short for replacing all three, said Yvette Weiland, Community Corrections director. Community Corrections has permission to purchase two vehicles and will continue getting quotes for a third.